November 4, 1998
BUSY WEEKEND AHEAD FOR TIGERS
Heading into the weekend, the Missouri Tigers have one dual meet under their belts. After Sunday, they will have six. Both the men's and women's teams will travel to Champaign, Ill. for the Illinois Dual Meet Extravaganza this weekend. Six men's and women's teams will compete amongst one another this weekend with each competition counting as a dual meet. For the MU women, it is a very important weekend. For the men, it will be a big challenge.
The MU women's team will face a very tough Indiana squad on Friday night at 6:15 p.m. On Saturday morning, they will take on national power Illinois at 11:00 a.m. The Tigers will come right back Saturday evening at 6:15 to face Cincinnati. On Sunday morning, Missouri will be involved in a triangular meet against Illinois State and Southern Illinois.
The Missouri women are seemingly on the brink of cracking the nation's top 25 for the first time in school history. Wins over Illinois, Indiana or Cincinnati could break the ice for the Tigers this weekend.
The men's schedule is similar to the women's. The MU men will take on 23rd-ranked Indiana on Friday night. On Saturday morning, the Tigers will face a talented Iowa team. A solid Cincinnati team follows on Saturday night with a triangular with Southern Illinois and Division II power Drury on Sunday.
Missouri teams have had success at the Illinois Dual Meet Extravaganza under Head Coach Brian Hoffer. The MU women have an 11-6 record under Hoffer in Champaign while the men are an even 7-7.
THE LAST TIME OUT
The Missouri women left little doubt last Saturday in anyone's mind that they are going to be tough to deal with this year. The Tigers blasted Iowa State 139-98 in Columbia in a meet that saw three freshmen steal the show.
Katie Mae Fields splashed onto the scene with wins in both the 1000 and 500 freestyle events. Fields' time of 5 minutes, 1.39 seconds was just 1.5 seconds off of the Missouri school record. Fellow frosh Molly Vetter, who claimed two top 10 finishes a week earlier at the Big 12 Invite, won the 200 freestyle in a pool-record time of 1 minute, 53.22 seconds. Vetter came back later and finished second behind Fields in the 500 free in a time of 5 minutes, 3.88 seconds.
Then there was freshman Tara Brooks, who like Fields was making her collegiate debut. Brooks placed second in the 50 freestyle behind MU sophomore Kim Lambert, and then went on to win the 100 free in a time of 53.24.
The MU veterans did their part as well. Sophomore Kara Bramer won the 200 individual medley. Juniors Cristina Souza and Rikki Janes were also victorious in the 200 butterfly and 200 backstroke respectively.
Culminating the Tigers dominant showing was the MU 400 freestyle-relay team of Lambert, Brooks, Bramer and Whitney Nigh as they broke the pool-record with a time of 3 minutes, 32.55 seconds.
Although the men posted solid times, 24th-ranked Iowa State was just to good. The Cyclones defeated the Tigers 155-78. Two sophomore's stood out for the Tigers. Aaron Lo pulled off an upset in the 50 free with a very impressive time of 21.31 seconds. On the diving board, sophomore walk-on Ryan Day collected his first collegiate victory in the 3-meter event. Junior Brad Duggan also took home the win on the 1-meter board.